The Free Journal/ASCII Edition
Volume I, Issue 3
Copyright 1991 Sameer Parekh (Individual articles copyright by author)
Editor-in-Chief: Sameer Parekh
(fj@infopls.chi.il.us)
This is the Free Journal. Submissions are welcome. Some
characters have the high bit set. Distribute at will; cite authors.
(Or editors if no author is given.)
This is not meant to be an electronic newsletter. This is
meant to be an example of on-paper underground newspapers to educate
the masses about freedom and similar issues.
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Sixth Amendment
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall
not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
I think this aspect of the Bill of Rights is one of the most
hurt by the War on Civil Liberties. I will list a few examples. Many
other examples can be found from the Pittsburgh Press's articles
Presumed Guilty. Write to The Pittsburgh Press, 34 Boulevard of the
Allies, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15230, and they will probably send it
to you.
The forfeiture laws that have been passed make a mockery of
the rights outlined in the fourth amendment. On the mere suspicion of
a law enforcement officer, someone is subject to lose nearly
everything they own. In Volusia County, Florida, the police stop cars
for contrived violations. If large quantities of cash are found, the
police usually confiscate it, assuming that it is drug money, and if
the person is a minority, you can be sure that the money will be
taken. Victims can retrieve their cash by proving that they obtained
it through legal channels. Makes a mockery of “innocent until
proven guilty” too.
When warrants are issued these days, they do not specifically
list what is to be seized or searched for. In the case of Bruce
Esquibel of Chicago, the Secret Service had suspicion that illegal
activities were going on on his Apple //e computer. The warrant gave
the Secret Service permission to seize not only his Apple //e, but his
2 Macs, which were in no way related to their suspicion. In addition,
no charges have been filed against him yet he still lacks his
expensive equipment.
In the case of Steve Jackson Games, an Austin, TX-based
role-playing game publisher, the Secret Service had the slightest
suspicion that one of his employees was a close friend of Legion of
Doom member Craig Neidorf. The Secret Service then stole all of Steve
Jackson Games' computers, and the manuscript for the new game which
would be their main offering for the new year. Steve Jackson had to
lay off approximately 8 of his 17 employees. In addition to lacking
any solid evidence, the raid was abysmally planned; for example, a
laser printer was taken because they “needed the ribbon for
evidence.”
In Hudson, New Hampshire, the police broke into the home of
Bruce Lavoie at 5 A.M. and shot him dead. An anonymous informant told
them that they should expect guns at his house and thus should enter
with guns drawn. Mr. Lavoie had no guns.
--Sameer Parekh
The Fifth Amendment
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor
shall any person be subject to the same offence to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case
to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be
taken for public use without just compensation.
People are deprived of life, liberty, and property
every day in the War on Rights. As I stated in my previous article
about the fourth amendment, people lose their homes, cars, and farms
on the slightest suspicion that any wrong-doing was going on.
In one case, Willie Jones was flying to purchase supplies for
his nursery business. He carried cash because his suppliers liked to
deal with cash. At the airport, an agent suspected that he would be a
drug dealer and searched him, finding the cash. It was taken because
the agent assumed the money was from drugs. We all KNOW that blacks
don't have large amounts of money unless they are drug dealers, don't
we?
In a report by the San Francisco Examiner, it was reported
that 80% of the people whose property is stolen are NEVER CHARGED WITH
A CRIME. Some people may say, “Most of those people must've been
drug dealers.” I say, “Innocent until proven guilty.”
In the case of the Detroit police, during raids in which they
steal people's homes, they give the children teddy bears. in order to
“reduce the pain” of the their new status of homelessness.
In addition, the money received by public auctions of these
forfeitures are used for many purposes by police departments,
including but not limited to, better squad cars, paid vacations,
recreation activities, and similar “perks.” The more they steal,
the better their chances of getting another pool table in the rec.
room.
--Sameer Parekh
A Taste of 1776
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable
rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and
to institute and new government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence,
indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience
hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sufferable, then to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which
they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them
under absolute despotism, IT IS THEIR RIGHT, IT IS THEIR DUTY, TO
THROW OFF SUCH A GOVERNMENT, [Emphasis added --SP] and to provide new
guards for their future security. . ."
--Thomas Jefferson
An Apology for the 200th Anniversary
This is an apology. Last week I thought I could organize a
rally for the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Until Friday,
I had the secure support of one other person. Friday, after school,
some people said that they would support me.
I apologize to these people. Saturday night I was very
depressed. I spoke to the one person who supported me before Friday
and he said that he would be unable to make it. I realized that I did
not plan enough. I feared that the death of the Bill of Rights would
be the death of me on this 200th anniversary due to my depression. I
am still depressed.
Today I gave up. I thought no one would be going. I felt an
incredible lack of meaning in my life. Then at 9:20, I got a call.
Someone was at the station with a few people. However, she said that
it would be futile going because most of them had to leave. I
apologize to these people. I fear that I lack the inner strength to
go about my plans. However, I hope that this failure will not stop us
from planning better next time and succeeding.
However, I do not apologize towards those who only said,
“maybe.” You may have been more truthful than me, but I was
planning on going, although I may have failed in that respect. I hope
that the next time such a situation arises I will not fail so
grievously. I have decided to plan our next action far in advance.
Thus, our next action will be in the spring. In the spring
more people might be willing to stand outside to demonstrate. Upon
discussion with others, I will decide the specifics. I will probably
choose a more important location where we know of specific violations
of our rights.
Meanwhile, this is still a free forum for people to air their
ideas. If you have an idea, write about it, and give it to me. I
will not make my decisions based upon the opinion expressed in the
document but whether I and others whom I ask to comment think it
expresses the point well.
And let us mourn the passing of the Bill of Rights on this its
200th anniversary.
--Sameer Parekh
Do We Have a Future?
The massive cutting of trees occurs most often in the now
densely forested region of the Pacific Northwest. This practice is
now devastating sizable portions of forests daily. It boggles my mind
that there are actually inhabitants there who are against the
perpetuation of these forests. It is all about the future. Do we
want posterity to experience lavish timberlands? Do we want those few
white-collar overseers to receive paper money to produce wastelands?
Money is in no way comparable to the natural beauty of earthly
forests. It is true that the groves do grow back, but they are
clearcut once again in another 100 years; the cycle then continues
from there. These forests are artificially replanted in rows. How
can this be natural? The process makes things easier for the
companies to come back and clearcut once again. Another issue
concerning this topic is the wildlife involved. Should we humans
knock down the homes of the spotted owl, or any other animals for that
matter? I might be considered a “Bambi Lover,” but I would like
to know why one “superior” race should kill out another, and if
in fact we are superior then cannot we use our heads to figure out
substitutions, rather than who has the most powerful bombs? There has
to be ways of preserving this natural splendor and all of its
creatures. These thoughts of magnificence in nature will soon be
thought that live only in the past. We need to transfer our
technology from firepower to preservation. Something must impel
accomplishment soon.
--Dave Maurath
[Ed. note--in a book review in the Fall '91 issue of Whole Earth
Review a chart is given illustrating total military expenditures of
the world in one year s. the amount of money it would take to fix the
environment. It would only take approximately one quarter of the one
trillion dollars spent on the military to fix the environment. -SP]
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
-- Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945.
The Reverend Neimoller was a German who constantly was
criticizing the Nazi government from 1933-37. He was arrested for
treason in 1937, and after the war played a major part in the
reconciliation of the powers. He recieved the Lenin Peace Prize in
1967, and died in 1984.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which shall
have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining
Witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his
defence.
In the case of Manual Noriega, a government needed to be
overthrown in order to get him and try him very far from “the
district wherein the crim shall have been commited.” The War on
Drugs is trying to apply its draconian laws to other countries now
too. I would also assume that it would be sort of tough to get an
impartial jury for his trial.
In addition, in the Steve Jackson Games case, he was not
“informed of the nature and cause of the accusation.” Many
people assumed that the government was trying to exercise prior
restraint on their new role-playing game. This was not their intended
purpose, but for all intents and purposes it could have been, due to
the even shakier nature of the real reason. (In fact, one of the
pieces of “evidence” that lead to the seizure was the discussion
of “Kermit” on a bulletin board system. Kermit is a program
which enables simple file-transfer over phone lines, but the Secret
Service thought it was some sort of “password-guessing”
program.)
--Sameer Parekh
“I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”
-- Walt Whitman
“I don’t think that atheists should be considered as citizens,
nor should they be considered patriots.”
-- George Bush